Show I THE MUTABLE FIANY M t I BY ROBERT BARR I CHAPTER XXV Sartwell as he had written to his 1 daughter and telegraphed to Barney Hope found himself very busy now the 1 he dismissed men had come back Although missed none who had taken part In the strike he rearranged with a dogged ruthlessness the whole service of the works Few men sot their old jobs r back again or their old wages There were promotions and retrogradations discharged At was although no one first It seemed to the men that this was a mere brutal display of power presided pre-sided over bv wanton caprice but as t time went on they began to see the glimmering of a method in the weaving weav-ing of the web Those who were degraded de-graded to the meanest and most poorly paid work the firm had to offer were the men who had ben most hotheaded In bringing on the strike and the most persistent in opposing its conclusion The soberer heads among the men who had been thrust into the background I during the agitation were in every instance in-stance given promotion and higher pay and as these changes took place one I after anotherfor Sartwell was not the man to disorganize the works by changesthe any sweepingly radival changes general conclusion was that the manager man-ager merely desired to show the men that those whom they had valued lightly were the workmen whom he prized Yet it could not be denied even by those who lost In the same of reorganization re-organization that the more conservative conserv-ative men thus advanced were among i the most capable workmen in the factory t fac-tory They were the men who had most to lose by the strike and had naturally been most reluctant to enter into 2 contest the end of which no I one could foresee By and by it began U be suspected that the manager must have in his possession a complete and accurate record of every action and speech during the strike so entirely did his shifting about of the pawns t which he played with such cool and r silent relentlessness coincide with the I doings of each piece during the trouble I they thought was past and hoped had been forgotten In some Instances Itt it-t seemed as if 1 Sartxie1 had deliberately marked the contrast by bringing forward r for-ward the degraded and the elevated into purposeful juxtaposition so that his design in showing that he held I the future of each man in his hand could not be misunderstood 1 byeven the tp i 1 most stupid of his employees It was a grim object lesson apparently intended t to convey Sartwells determination to stick by the men who even remotely i had sympathized with him in the late I struggle for not a word was spoken and when a man protested humbly against debasement the manager made no reply and the workman knew he had either to submit or to apply for his wages at the office In no instance was the evidence of Sartwells silent wrath more manifest than the cases of Braunt and Scim mins The two men had been equal in position when the strike began although al-though Scimmlns received rather more money than Braunt Now Braunt was made superintendent of the upper floor where most of the employees were women and boys while Sclmmins was given the work which one of the boys who did not return at the end of the strike had done Scimmins had the double humiliation of being under the none too gentle orders of the big Yorlishireman whom he had flouted during the strike and also of having I t J accept little more than boys wages He cursed Sartwell loud and often but I the manager was a man who paid little heed to the curses of others and Scim i nuns was not in a position to refuse the small pay he received I Sartwell had at last arranged the interior in-terior economy of the factory to his liking and was just promising himself i a few days free from worry down at Eastbourne when a most unlooked ror disaster overturned all his plans Shortly before the dinner hour he was coming down the stairs from the upper floor when a shriek which seemed toe to-e combined voices of those he had left a moment before paralyzed him where he stood The first thought that flashed through his mind was that Braunt had gone suddenly mad and perhaps killed some one for the manager man-ager had noticed since Braunts promotion pro-motion that he sometimes spoke wildly wild-ly while now and again there was a dangerous maniacal gleam in his eyes which betokened latent insanity Before Be-fore he could turn around two dis hevelled screaming women passed himWhats Whats wrong he shouted after themFire Fire they shrieked back at him as they lied As Sartwell bounded up the stairs hemet he-met no more coming down He heard outside in the yard a mans deep voice hoarsely shouting Fire Fire The managers heart sank as he thought of the numbers on the upper floor the narrow stairway and the single exit The other floors were reasonably safe with broad stairways and wide doors I but the upper floor which formerly c had but few occupants had long been a source of anxiety to him fearing as he did just such a catastrophe as now seemed imminent The remedying of this had often beep agreed upon by both the owners and himself and was among the good intentions which were at various times postponed to a more convenient seasonand now the cry of fire was ringing in his ears and the narrow stair was the only means of escape He found the open doorway blocked by a mass of howling human beings each wild to escape and each making escape Impossible They were wedged and immovable many too tightly compressed com-pressed to struggle while others further back thrashed wildly about with their arms trying to fight their way to safety The dangerous aromatic smell of burning pine tilled the air and smoke poured up through the lift shaft and 2 < rolled in ever increasing density along the ceiling There was no flame as yet but If the jam could not be broken it would not need the fire itself to smother the life out of those in the hopeless contest Stand back ther cried Sartwell i There Is no danger if you keep cool All of you go back to your places Ill go In with you and be the last to leave so theres nothing to fear A red tongue of flaine flashed for the twinkling of an eye amid the black smoke disappearing almost as soon I as It came but sending a momentary glow like sheet lightning over the I t rapidly darkening room It was a r brief but ominous reply to Sartwells i words and he saw he might as well have spoken to the tempest He tried to extricate one of the girls whose inneeyOe dgl illt r i wildly staring eyes and i > allid lius i t showed she was being crushed to death but she was wedged as firmly In the mass as if cemented there Sartwell with a groan of despair saw I he was powerless In the face of this I i irresistible panic He was attacking k the wedge at its point and so was at I a tremendous disadvantage f An angry roar louder than his shout I had been called his attention to the I fact that Braunt was making an assault t as-sault on the wedge from the rear rhA big man using his immense strength t mercilessly was cleaving his way through the mass grasping the women t with both hands by the shoulders and flinging them with a reckless carelessness careless-ness of consequences behind him fighting his way inch by inch toward the door r Stand back ye villain Braunt roared to Scimmins who crazed by 1 fear was trampling down all ahead of him in his frantic efforts to escape f es-cape Its everyone for himself screamed t L tid k = iJiIL r Scimmins I have as much right to I my life as you have to yours I I Stand back ye ruffian or Ahll strangle ye when Ah get ma hands on ye Stand ye there Mr Sartwell an catch them when Ah throw them to ye The women first Fling them down past the turn o the stairs an theyll be safe Stand ye there Ahll be at the door this minute Well have them all out in a jiffy While he shouted Braunt tore his way through the crowd and at last reached the knot In the jam where I further progress was impossible Here he stood and by the simple power of his arms lifted girl after girl straight up and hurled them over the heads of those in front Into Sartwells arms who pushed them on down the stairs For Gods sake Scimmins cried I Sartwell who from his position could see the feardemented man pressing the crowd on Braunt and hampering him be a man and stand back Dont I fight Theres time for all to get out Ahll crack your skull for ye shouted Braunt hoarsely over his shoulder Remember yeve to pass I me before yet get to the stair an little lit-tle good your fightInll do ye At last the knot dissolved as a long jam on a river suddenly gives way when the key log is removed Braunt stood now with his back against the doorpost while Sartwell took his place af the turn of the stairs strenuously flinging torn and ragged items of humanity hu-manity into safety Several of those who had been at the point of the wedge lay at his feet senseless or deadthere was no time to discover which Now and then a girl he hurled l nN the I stair tottered fell and lay where she rpjWhy I Why doesnt somebne come to carry those women out groaned the manager man-ager who had asked one after another an-other whom he had saved to send help to him At last two of his men appeared Its a bad fire Mr Sartwell said one oneYes Yes yes I know Take down two each I you can and send up more men Tell the clerks to see tnat the iron doors between the buildings are closed Are the firemen here Five engines sir Good Get down as quickly as you can and send up more help Ye divil Do ye think to sneak past me cried Braunt seizing Scim mins who had at last fought his way through Dont waste time with that man Braunt My God dont you see the flames The roof will be in on us in a minute Fling him down here He stays behind me till the last souls out snarled Braunt between his teeth Sartwell said no more I was no time to argue or expostulate and Braunt although pinning Scimmins to the wall behind him continued to extricate the women as fast as the manager could pass them along The knot was continually forming at the door and was as continually unloosed by the stalwart indefatigable arms of Braunt You are smothering me whined Scimmins I hope so said Braunt The situation was now hardly to be borne The smoke ascending the stairway stair-way met the smoke pouring through the door yet in spite of the smoke the room was bright fora steady column col-umn of flame roared up through the shaft making it like a blast furnace r Are they all out gasped Sartwell coughing for the smoke was choking himAh Ah think so sir but Ahll have a look Some may be on the floorand Braunt as he spoke hurled Scim mins into the room ahead of him pushing the door shut so that Sartwell would not hear the man If hecried out The manager strangling in the smoke appeared to have forgotten that Scim mins was there Down on your hands and kn es ye hound and see if any o the women ye felled are there Scimmins was already on his knees Theres no one here Open the door open the door he cried Braunt opened the door an inch or twoAll out sir he shouted Thank God for that said Sartwell Come down at once Theres not a moment to lose I Ill be down a soon as you are sir Run I The manager tumbled down the crackling stair not doubting but I Braunt followed Now ye crawling serpent Im going I to keep ye here till yere singed 1 saw your villainy ye coward I The terrorstricken man mistook the purport of Braunts words and thus I lost all chance of life I swear to God I didnt mean it he cried The match dropped before I knowed it Gods truth it did Braunt What Ye fired th works Ye With the women here ye tried to starve Ye dropped the match Ye crawling murderous fiend I Braunt crouched like a wild beast about to spring his crooked fingers like claws twitching nervously Breathing In short quick gasps for the smoke had him by the throat his fierce eyes glittering in the flames the fearsome of with light insanity he pounced upon his writhing victim and held his struggling I figure with f Isfg arms upstretched above his head Treading over the quaking door he shouted Down ye craven devil into the hell ye have made The long quivering shriek of the doomed man was swallowed and quenched in the torrent of fire Braunt stood in the center of the trembling sagging floor with his I hands still above his head his face upturned up-turned and swaying dimly In the stifling smoke A fireman axe crashed in a window a spurt of water burst through the opening and hissed against the ceiling Jessie Jessie Listen the Dead March My girl The real march With a rending crash the floor sank into the furnace CHAPTER XXVI Barney Hope drove his tandem up and down the parade to the glory of Eastbourne but with small satisfaction satisfac-tion to himself He did not care for ton the admiration of those who were strangers to him Although his state was princely and had all the exclusiveness ex-clusiveness which attends princeliness it was a condition of things not at all to the liking of so companionable a I man as Barney His magnificent plan which gave employment to an amateur ama-teur gardener had apparently miscarried miscar-ried for no word came from the girl I at the school and whatever attractions attrac-tions the tandem had for other inhabitants in-habitants of Eastbourne it certainly seemed that Edna Sartwell did not share them at least sufficiently to arrange ar-range for a drive with the young man and any of her companions who dared to break the rules of the school for the giddy whirl of his lofty vehicle Barney cursed his luck and also his messenger He was sure it was Mars tens fault some clumsiness on his part had undoubtedly spoiled everything every-thing Now that Barney thought over Marstens demeanor when he returned I he saw what aen should have seen at the time from the gruffness and short ness of the fellows answers that he I had made a mess of It somehow and was ashamed to confess his failure Marsten had merely contented himself by saying to Barney that he had delivered de-livered the letter unseen and that the girl had given him no message to take back Barney could get no satisfying particulars from him regarding the incidents in-cidents of the meeting Had he talked with her Of course he had I was necessary to explain how he came to v c r I be there What had she said She said very little Had she seemed angry She did not seem any too well pleased And thus Barney with industry I in-dustry and persistence endeavored to draw the truth out of a reluctant man who appeared only too eager to getaway get-away and commune with himself and who evidently did not appreciate the fact that i was the duty of a messenger mes-senger to communicate full particulars I of his embassy to his chief I Now that Marsten had SQ hurriedly hurried-ly gone to London probably loath to I admit his diplomatic failure yet fearing fear-ing to be sent on another mission of I the sortBarney was convinced ther i had been some awkward hitch in the I proceedings which was all the more I annoying as he could not discover what i was and so he set about to I remedy it with that unfailing tact of which he knew himself to be possessed I For once in his life Barney had to con He Proposed to the Girl and was Rejected fess that he did not know what to do 1 He did not care to return to London and admit defeat even to himself One of his favorite boasts was that he I never knew defeat for whereto use his own language he could not pull it off himself Providence seemed always to step in and give him the necessary aid He began to fear that his customary cus-tomary accuracy in detecting the interposition in-terposition had for once failed him for he remembered he had looked on the f unexpected advent of Marsten as a I distinct manifestation that fortune still favored him but as day after day passed and no answer came to the letter let-ter he had sent Barney began to have doubts as to the genuineness of the intervention on this occasion At last in deep gloom he came to the hafl 3erc i conclusion that life i under the present circumstances was not worth living if it had to be lived in Eastbourne without knowing a soul and reluctantly reluctant-ly he determined to return to London He ordered Cut bin tandem for a final exhibition remembering that even though he took no pleasure in it himself him-self It would be cruel to deprive the loungers along the parade of their usual delight in watching the elegance of the turnout and his own skill in handling a team placed endwise After all the Innocent frequenters of Eastbourne were not to blame for what had happened so why should they be punished unnecessarily said the ever just Barney to himself They should be allowed to feast their eyes for the last time on the tandem and its master and heaven help them when he finally I departed Barney mounted his chariot with a sigh for aside from the fact I that this was in a measure a last act I and last acts always carry a certain amount of pathos with themIt is depressing de-pressing to have it proven that one is after all under no special protection and to have doubt cast on former instances in-stances which heretofore have stood unchallenged Barney drove his spirited horses with perhaps less than his customary dash a chastened dignity taking the place of the exuberant confidence which generally gen-erally distinguished him The bracing air the rapid motion the feeling of controlling destiny that a man has when he is driving a tandem all failed to raise hisspirits as might have been expected for the very fact that he was driving alone emphasized his disappointment disap-pointment and made this world the hollow mockery it sometimes seems to the most cheerful of us Yet how often has it been said in varying forms that the darkest hour is just before be-fore the dawnand how often will men forget that simple nocturnal fact a defect of memory the more remarkable remark-able In a Derson like Barney who so frequently had had opportunity while on his way home from a postmidnight revel of verifying the phenomenon Just when his despair was at its blackest black-est on the fourth drive down the parade he was amazed and delighted to see Edna Sartwell coming down one of the side streets all alone She had a newspaper in her hand and was looking look-ing anxiously and a Barney could not fail to see furtively up and down the street apparently expecting to meet some one yet fearing that her intention inten-tion might be divined Barney understood under-stood the whole situation in a flash she had been afraid to write or had been prevented from writing and had stolen alone from the school in the hope of meeting him Well they all did it so far as Barney was concerned and in the glow of exultation that came over him at this proof of success and the assurance that after all his luck or whatever I washad not deserted de-serted him there was just a faint annoying an-noying tinge of regret that she was no more proof against his fascinations I than all I the others had been Man is I t erbe but an uncertain I creature at best and never knows Just what he does want A moment before it would have seemed to him that nothing on earth could I have given him greater pleasure than a sight of her and yet now that he I saw her looking for him he was actually sorry she had not been walking I walk-ing unconcernedly along the pavement I like those who were strangers to him However I must be added in Bar neys favor that this feeling of being perhaps a trifle too much sought after was but transitory and that it did not for a moment Interfere with his action He pulled up his team with a suddenness I sudden-ness that caused the front horse to I turn round and face its driver threw I the teins to his groom and ftP i down with a grace and celerity as charming In its way as was his driving driv-ing The groom disentangled the horses as Barney accosted Edna with that I urbanity which was perhaps his distinguishing dis-tinguishing characteristic The girl seemed surprised to see him and was plainly more than a little embarrassed I I am so glad to meet you cried Barney Why the very sight fC you I makes this dull old Eastbourne smile I like a rose dont you know I havent had a soul to speak to for ages and I began to fear I should lose the use of I language I give you my word Its the truth I do think that is I did until I saw you that Eastbourne is the dullest I dull-est spot on earth Then whr did you come here asked the girl Oh now I say Miss Sartwell thats rather too bad I is I assure you You know I said In my letter I came solely for the pleasure of seeing you So you did I had forgotten Yes ad von never even answered my note Mica Sartwell I call that rather hard dont you know You see Mr Hope we are not allowed al-lowed to write letters from the school that is one of the strictest rules And are YOU so afraid of breaking a rule as all that When I was at school the delight of being there was the breaking of all rulesand of most l a other things as well I thought perhaps per-haps YOU would not mind breaking a rule for once even If only out of pity I for a friend stranded on this inhospitable inhos-pitable coast I Edna blushed when he sooke of the breaking of rules then she lifted her honest eves to his and said I am afraid I pay too little attention I atten-tion to the rules after all my pretense of resard for them I am breaking a rule in belnc here now but I was so I anxious to see a newspaper that I stole out to buy one That Is why I am here and I should not stand talking to you I but must go back at once But I say Miss Sartwell protested pro-tested Barnev If you break a ruh I merely to buy a paper surely you will I break another or keep on fracturing I the same one when YOU know how I much pleasure it wilt give me to take I you for n little drive Oh I couldnt think of such a thing I Mr Hope I couldnt indeed and you must not ask me I wanted the paper to see if there was iirivthinc more about the fire t should never have known about It had not my father sent me a short telegram that gave no particulars par-ticulars I suppose he did not have time to write What fire The fire at the works Bless me Has there been a fire Didnt you know There has been a terrible fire the east wing is destroyed and two men have lost their lives two of the workmen There would have been a frightful loss of life had it not been for one of the men who is dead I Is supposed so the papers say that In trying to save the life of the other he lost his owvn Dear me How perfectly awful I wonder whY Mr Sartwell didnt wire me as neither father nor Monkton i there You see I never read the papers myself never have any Interest In thm I a fellow could only know when there is to be something In them worthwhile worth-while it wouldnt be so bad but one cant go on buying them every day In the hope there will be something in them some time dont you know Besides Be-sides people generally tell me all the news so I dont need to read I hear even more than I want to hear without with-out looking at the papers but you see I know nobody down here and so am slightly behind In the news of the day dayI I must go now repeated Edna who had listened to his remarks with illdisguised uneasiness VOh but thats just what YOU must not do cried Barney with great eagerness Have pity if not on my loneliness at least on my hopeless ignorance ig-norance dont YOU know In a matter that I of all others ought to be Interested Inter-ested vitally interestedIn You see there may be no Insurance and perhaps per-haps Im a beggar may have to sell my tandem dont you know sacrifice my pictures and all that sort of thing I must hear about the fire and all about I Its of more importance even than the condition of the workingman to me at least dear as that subject Is and all Interwoven as I might say with my venahbelngthe workingman work-ingman dont you know But protested his anxious listener I know nothing about the insurance nothing whatever You should go at once to London by the very first train There has been an inquest and I expect ex-pect to find a report of it in this paper You can buy a paper at the station and then you will learn everything that Is to be known un JL you reach London Lon-don donI I sa Miss Sartwell said Barney in an injured tone you surely cant expect me to understand whats in the paper I never couid doht you know They seem to me tQ print such rubbish rub-bish Now YOU can explain it all tome to-me in a very short time you always make everything so clear I you will just step into this cart of mine Ill drive out of town and around behind the school then no one will see us and you can reach there much more quickly than If you walked dont you know The girl frownedand Barney saw with surprise that she perhaps had after all come ofr > her fathers impatience impa-tience He felt thatThe was not progressing pro-gressing quite as favorably as he could wish but a few words would put that right if he could get her to go with him for a drive Mr Hope she said severely you will pardon me If I say that under the circumstances you should be busy In London rather than idling at East bourne An unexpected calamity has happened the business is deranged and men are out of work just now when they need it most yet here you fhey stand idly talking < jf tandems and driving ingBarney opened his eyes wide with astonishment Here actually was censure cen-sure plain and undisguised He had never encountered i before from any lady except perhaps from his mother and she did not count for as he knew she would be the first to resent blame placed upon him by anyone else Butwhat can I do stammered the unfortunate young man with strong emphasis on the personal pronoun pro-noun I of course dont know but that is what I should find out if I were in your place Nobody pays the least attention to what I say they never did and Its not likely theyre going to begin now Your father didnt even take the atler trouble to telegraph although he knows Im here He knows you are hereOf here-Of course He was coming with me and both of us were going to call upon you but unluckily for me he couldnt come and here I am stranded and I must say when you talk like that I think fate is a little hard on me meAs the girl looked at him her expression ex-pression softened She felt she had been unfair to him and she had a keen sense of justice I had no intention of saying anything any-thing harsh she replied I merely told you what I thought anyone In your position would do Dont you agree with me 1 always agree with you Miss Sart well Im rather a blockhead at best dont you know but I usually recognize recog-nize the right thing when someone points it out to me Thats one great fault I find with myself I dont see things till after everyone else has seen them then they all seem so plain that I wonder I didnt notice them before People are so impatient with a fellow like me that sometimes I feel for myself my-self I give you my word I do I they would take a little painsbut then of course no one ever cares whether a fellow goes right or wrong Oh yes they do cried the girl quickly Im sure I care very much < You think you do cried Barney dejectedly but you wont even risk a slight scolding at school to give me the advice I need at the time I need it most But thats the way of the world continued the illused young man with a deep sigh All I want you to do Is to take a short drive with me and tell me what you know of the disaster and what you think I ought to do under the circumstances T brought this turnout from London on purpose to take you out I Isnt as I I were suggesting anything clandestine clandes-tine for I came with your fathers approval ap-proval I wrote to the mistress of the school telling her so but she answered with a harp reprimand Then I wrote directly to you but my letter was returned with an intimation intima-tion that I was trying to do spmethlng underhanded So you see I made every effort to be square and honest but the honest people wouldnt have It Thats the sort of conduct that drives men to crime Then I took to more questionable methods and got that young fellow I forget his name to carry a letter to you That offended youOh Oh no Its nice of you to say so Barney went on mournfully but I am so used to disappointment that a little extra more or less doesnt matter I see now I was wrong to send that letter In the way I dldI always see those things after But I was forced to It I expect to end up In prison some day and never realize my crime until the 4 1 judge sentences me I suppose I ought to be above the need of an encouraging word now and then but I dont seem to be What do you wish me to do asked the girl a shade of perplexity coming over her face All r wish is a little straightforward straightfor-ward clearheaded advice Art beckons me In one direction and advises me to leave business alone You said just now that my place was at the works and that I shouldnt be Idling here when there was so much to be done Mr Sartwell quite evidently hopes I shall keep out of the way or he would have told me of the fire I seem to be a superfluous person not wanted anywhere any-where not even by the police What do I wish you to do I wish you to let me take you for a little drive into the country and tell me hoI can help your father at this crisis One Is so conspicuous up there she said glancing with distrust at the I waiting tandem No let us walk to I the end of the parade There we can I sit down and I will tell you all I know about the fire and If my advice is worth anything you shall have it Aftef that you must let me walk to the school alone Barney was forced to content himself him-self with this and he reluctantly ordered or-dered the groom to take the horses to the stables The two walked along the parade tote to-te most sheltered seat where they sat down together The young mans mind was in a whirl the coldness of his reception excited him and made him fearful of losing what he had thought up to that time was his for the asking He proposed to the girl and was rejected re-jected To be continued |